A Doctor for the Doctor
by lexophile42
Summary: The Doctor's dying and Rose has got no choice but to fly the TARDIS on her own, landing in the 21st century, where one Dr. Gregory House,MD, has finally met a patient who might actually be suffering from LUPUS... and wait til you find out who!
1. Bloody Hell After the Pit

**Title: A Doctor for the Doctor**

**Show: Dr. Who series 2- immediately after 'THE SATAN PIT' (begining of an alternate series 2, actually); House, MD- not exactly sure when, but it is most likely right around series 2 as well... after he's been shot and had that crazy hallucination. (You know what I'm talking about)**

**Summary: The Doctor's dying and Rose has got no choice but to find a doctor on her own. Dr. Gregory House has found a patient that might actually be suffering from Lupus, and wait 'til you find out who it is!**

**Rated: T (for language and the occasional suggestive theme)**

**--**

CHAPTER ONE: BLOODY HELL AFTER THE PIT

"Let's go, Rose," the Doctor touched a button and the whole console lit up as soon as the blonde stepped into the TARDIS, "Where to?"

"Doctor, you're bleeding," Rose observed, pointing to the collar of his button-up shirt, which revealed a growing red stain, "You're bleeding right bad."

"No I'm not," he shook his head and began his pre-flight jaunt about the central unit, "I don't bleed that easy."

"I really think that's blood," she approached him slowly, fear in her eyes.

"And I really think I'm done talking about it," the Doctor replied briskly, but shuddered when he felt the back of his shirt stick to his skin as he moved. The sensation made him feel nauseous and human.

"You're bleeding, I don't care what you say," Rose crossed her arms and stood before him with a stern 'mother-hen' look on her normally peaceable face, "Just feel it."

"What's this, then?" he touched the back of his neck gingerly then examined the crimson-covered digits with apprehensive, saucer-sized eyes, "Is that blood? Is that _my_ blood?"

The Time Lord turned in a slow circle as he watched the room begin to swirl around him, allowing Rose to catch a glimpse of the wound. It was a deep gash stretching across the back of his neck and gaping from his hairling to the top of the collar of his pin-striped coat. Thick, red ooze was trickling down the back of his shirt, leaving behind a trail of miscoloured fabric in its wake. Rose gasped with thse saw an exposed patch of the creamy-white bone that made up his vertebral column. The Doctor began to spin back to face her, but instead lurched forward and fell against a panel of the console's innumerable bits and pieces and odds and ends. He groaned and collapsed into a hep of skin, hair, blood and pinstripes.

Rose rushed to his side. Circling one arm around his waist, her other hand held his and lifted it over her head so as to drape his arm across her shoulders so she could help him up. She hoisted him to his feet, staggering slightly under his weight.

"Doctor, don't panic," Rose whispered in his ear as she helped him onto the seat in front of the center console, "I'll find... something."

"Rose, you've got to fly her," he said hoarsely, his eyes were clenched shut as he bore the pain with as much dignity as possible, "I need a doctor... I think."

"But... I can't fly the TARDIS... I don't know how--" then it struck her.

Her hands found their way around the thingamajigs, thingamabobs, whirligigs, doohickeys, knobs, buttons, and levers as though she'd know how to work them all her life. The tubes lit up again and began their motions. The TARDIS gave no protest to Rose's captaining and obediently flew, though Rose had no idea where to. She had a few thoughts about what was needed, and was well aware that the TARDIS was in tune with her psychic emissions and was therefore able to fly in accordance with her thoughts, but Rose ahd no idea where exactly to go. All she knew was that the Doctor was in desperate need of a doctor; preferable a doctor that Rose would be able to communicate with.

**--**

**A/N: Yes, yet another Dr. Who/House, MD crossover. This time, I've put a bit of a spin to it... much later on, though... I think. I've not read any like this thus far. Anyway, R&R! --Lexx**


	2. It's NEVER Lupus

CHAPTER 2: IT'S NEVER LUPUS!!

"It's **_NEVER_** lupus!" Dr. Gregory House shouted at the Ducklings as he wrote in block letters on his white board 'NOT LUPUS', "I don't care how many of the symptoms this guy has, it is _not_ lupus!"

"All I'm saying is that it's a possibility," Cameron said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest, "Medically speaking it _is _a possibility, no matter what you choose to believe."

"And the lucky winner is: Cameron! You get to cover clinic duty for me this afternoon so that I can take a nap instead of those sick, innocent tax-payers," House replied with a sadistic grin, "Hopefully, from this lesson you've learned that... anyone want to guess?"

Chase rose his hand hesitantly, "It's, er, never lupus?"

"Cookie for the smart-ass... I mean, _Aussie_," the sadist clasped his hands together, the dry-erase marker between them, "Now that we've determined this, who would like to guess what Mr. Harkness might actually be suffering from before he _dies_?"

"It could be..." Foreman began, but before he could finish the illuminating sentence...

_Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir __Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir __Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir __Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir __Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh_

"And queue giant whooshing blue box," House said nonchalantly, seriously taking the apparition for a hallucination. He looked at the Ducklings and registered the equal surprise on their faces then put three and one together and finally came to the unbelievable conclusion that he'd probably been shot again and that it was most likely best to just wait it out. "Anyway, as I was saying--"

"House, it's a giant blue box and you're just going to continue on with the 'it's never lupus' lecture?" Foreman asked incredulously, "I understand you pills dulling your nerves, but this is way beyond Vicodin. What are you on?"

"Or what did you put in the coffee?" Chase asked equally incredulously, examining the coffee cup still in his hand.

"_As I was saying_," he repeated, rolling his eyes like an insolent teenager, "Before I was so rudely interrupted by said blue blox and you two, do we have any ideas what could be plaguing--"

"Hate to intrude like this, but are any of you lot doctors?" a blonde's head popped round the door of the large blue box. Her cheeks were flushed and tear stained and her eyes pleaded for help.

The four doctors stared at her, wide eyed and bewildered.

"It's just... My mate's in here and he really needs a doctor," the girl explained, opening the door a bit wider and stepping out of what looked to be very cramped quarters. She carefully closed the door behind her. "He's got a right bad gash in his neck and I think it might be infected or something."

House, for once at a loss for words, dug into his pocket and pulled out an orange pill bottle. He popped the top off and lifted the canister to his mouth, telting it so the pills inside would meet his orifice and tumble down his throat, therefore allowing him a few more hours of pain-free-ish insanity.

"Oh, never mind," she muttered and stepped back into the blue box which almost immediately began to fade away.

"Huh... anyway," Dr. House found his voice again and continued his rant, "What else could it be?"

_Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir Whi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ir fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh_

"You sure none of you lot are doctors?" the blonde peeped back round the door as soon as the box solidified, "The scanner says this is a hospital. Princeton-Plainsboro, I think. That right?"

House nodded slowly.

"Are _you_ a doctor?" she directed her question directly at the graying physician.

He nodded again.

"Can you help my friend?" her words were slow and to the point.

He shrugged.

"That's a 'yes' or 'no' question," she said flatly.

"Well, I don't know what's wrong with your friend," House answered, "My first guess would be that he's in a little box with a British blonde and he probably hasn't got enough breathing space that doesn't include either your boobs or your ass."

The blonde scoffed and crossed her arms, a stern look in her hazel eyes.

"He's always like this," Cameron spoke up and stepped forward, "Why don't you bring your friend _out_ of the bos and we'll see what we can do."

"Thank you," the girl said with a sigh and vanished inside the box again.

--

A/N: PLease excuse the use of the word 'ass'... just in case it offended you or something. This story is rated T just so that I can write House as the sadistic arse he is. R&R! --lexx


	3. I'm a CAPTAIN

**_Chapter Three: I'm a Captain!_**

"Nurse!" called Captain Jack Harkness from his hospital bed, "Nurse!"

A young brunette hurried into the room with a clipboard held in the crook of her arm, "Yes, Mr. Harkness?"

"Captain," he corrected her, "_Captain_ Jack Harkness."

"Of course, sir," she nodded politely, "How can I help you, _Captain_?"

"I dropped my pencil," he explained, pointing to the fallen writing utensil, "And I'm not exactly allowed out of bed. Do you mind?"

"Of course not," she smiled and bent down to pick up the pencil, her backside to the bed where Jack lay.

He shuddered contentedly and grinned like a school boy. He fought back the impulse to reach and grab.

The nurse stood up straight again and turned back to face him, a placid smile still on her face, "Your pencil, _Captain_."

"Thank you, Gina," he took the implement and returned to the crossword puzzle on the tray-table stretched over his bed.

--

A: I understand that seems a bit random, but all will come together in time... I hope. This was just to introduce the third Dr. Who character in this fic: Captain Jack Harkness! That's right, this is AU. Rose sticks around, Jack is back, and the Doctor's dying! However could this story turn out?! I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. R&R as always. --Lexx


	4. Hiatus over

Guess what, y'all! The hiatus is over for this story and this story ONLY (for the most part). 'Jack Who' might have a few updates... but that's IT! Hope the wait hasn't been too dreadfully boring. I mean, I've only got how many stories up? it's not like you didn't have other stuff to read. Anyway... just informing y'all of the latest on the story. Keep reviewing- I read every single one.

--lexx


	5. What!

Chapter Four- WHAT?!

--

"Easy on, then," the Doctor protested as Rose heaved him up out of his seat and onto his unsteady feet, "I'm not exactly... ow... fit as a fiddler, anymore."

"Doctor, I found a hospital," she explained softly while half-carrying him into the conference room where four eager but nervous doctors awaited them, "I think I can trust them... well... one of them. The one's a real knee-biter and the other two are sort of quiet."

"Rose, you're amazing," he murmered as he head dropped forward baring the wound in his neck for all to see.

Rose kicked the door shut behind her as she stepped back toward the doctors. A sandy-blonde bloke stepped forward and helped her lift the Doctor onto the table at the center of the room.

"He'e we ahh, then," House said, trying to feign a British accent and failing miserably, "We've got this he'e 'guhl' and 'er bloke wot's got a right bad gash in 'is bloody neck, and--"

"House, stop," Cameron commanded harshly as she moved toward the Doctor, who was sprawled out on the table, her stethoscope primed and ready for heart-monitoring. "They've been through enough. You don't need to act like Simon Cowell."

"I was actually going for more of a Maxwell Sheffield, like in _The Nanny_," House replied, leaning on his cane and grinning like a child, "If I wanted to be Simon Cowell, I could just go shove a stick up my--"

"House!" Cameron's eyes grew wide, no because of House's remark, but instead because of what she heard when she held the stethoscope to the Doctor's chest, "His heart beat's on the wrong side of his chest!"

Rose leapt to attention, grabbing the stethoscope from the Aussie and following after Cameron, closely observing the rhythm of the Doctor's heart beat. It was slow and solitary and on the right side, most certainly not matched by the heart that she knew to lie on the left half of his chest. She heaved a sigh and returned the piece of equipment to Chase, her head hung low.

"Just the one," she muttered as she laced her fingers through the Doctor's and held his hand up to her cheek, which had tears streaming down it once again. She sobbed silently, not taking care to hide her waterworks from the doctors standing around her.

"What do you mean 'just the one'?" Chase asked rose as he listened to the Doctor's heart as well, matched by Dr. Foreman standing beside him, "Has he got more than one?"

Rose looked up and furrowed her eyebrows, "How do you mean 'more than one'?"

"It's just... the way you said 'just the one'," Foreman interjected, stepping away from the injured man on the table and approaching Rose slowly, "It sounded as though you were trying to say that there was _more_ than 'just the one'."

"Just fix him, okay?" Rose pleaded, her hand still clenching the Doctor's, "Please... just fix him."

Cameron stood beside Rose placidly and rested a hand on her shoulder, "We'll do everything we can. I promise."

"Thank you," the blonde whispered as another tear rolled down her cheek.

--

A/N: there you go, Chapter 4 well ahead of schedule... I just couldn'r resist. R&R as per usual... you guys all know the drill! I love you all so much... cos you're all frikken awesome. I read all of my reviews and take every single one of your ideas/requests into consideration while writing. --lexx


	6. Rose Knows

**_Chapter Five- Rose Knows_**

(A/N: Sorry I've been offline so long... but this chapter should make up for most of it... I hope...)

* * *

"R-Rose," the Doctor groaned from his gurney, which was being wheeled down the hall at a rather quick pace, "Rose!"

"I'm right here, Doctor," the blonde replied, squeezing his hand to alert him to her presence at his side, "I'm here."

"Make sure they don't give me aspirin," he said firmly through gritted teeth, "If they do... I could die... I would probably die. I don't particularly _want_ to die today. I rather like this body."

"Okay, I'll make sure," she said, squeezing his hand once more then released it and ran ahead of the rolling bed to talk to Dr.Cameron. "Miss... doctor... Cameron... I need to ask a favour."

"Absolutely, fire away," Cameron turned and paused just outside a room.

"He can't have aspirin," Rose said, "He's like allergic. It could kill him."

"All right. I'll make sure he doesn't get any," the young woman replied then followed the other doctors into the room.

"Rose!" shouted the Doctor, his voice strained from pain.

"Coming," she hurried to his side and took up his hand again, "I'm right here, Doctor."

"You told them?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah. No aspirin," Rose told him reassuringly, "Doctor Cameron is--"

"Good," he sighed, "That's not what I meant, though. About my... problems... with my circulatory systems. You told them?"

"No," she glanced around quickly then leaned forward, "I couldn't stop them checking your pulse... but only the one was going... wrong one, though. How are they now?"

"Both working... ish," the Doctor coughed and looked about the room, "I should be okay by... ooh, say... eight tomorrow morning... give or take a bit."

"How are _they _going to react to that?" Rose asked fearfully, nodding her head in the direction of Cameron and House, who were discussing medications and operations for the patient at hand. "You just swanning off like it was nothing."

"Oh, I dunno," he shrugged slightly and gave her a half smile, "I seem to do it an awful lot, though, don't I?"

"I wouldn't let ya," she grinned through her tears, remembering her first day with the Doctor, "Now you're stuck with me."

"I'm glad for that, Rose Tyler," he said, touching her cheek lightly with his free hand, "Where would I be if I wasn't."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again as she thought about the intensity of that question. _Where would he be?_ She looked at the Doctor thoughtfully. There was a twinkle in his eyes that she'd learned was not merely his attraction to mischief, but stood for his thirst for the unknown as well. He looked hungry for knowledge. He _was_ hungry for knowledge. _He'd be elsewhere... probably a bit better off... but he's here with me..._

"Excuse me, Miss Tyler," Cameron tapped her on the shoulder and smiled, "We need you to leave the room for a minute, if you don't mind. We're going to be conducting some tests and it would be a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality if you were in attendance."

"But... where do I go?" Rose asked.

"You look tired," Chase stepped in and motioned to Rose, "We'll just go get some coffee or tea and we can chat about this Doctor fellow."

"I should really--" Rose leaned toward the Doctor, who had his eyes clenched shut and a pained look on his face, "He needs me here."

"Look, it'll take two minutes," Chase told her, resting a hand on her arm, "It'll give them time to get done whatever needs doing and it'll give use time to have a quick chat."

Rose cast a glance at the Doctor, who had opened his eyes ever so slightly and winked quickly before shutting his eyes again. She squeezed his hand and stood up from the bedside then followed Dr. Chase to the cafeteria.

--

A/N: you all know the drill. --lexx


	7. Tea and Talk

**Chapter Six**

"So, Rose, where did you meet this Doctor?" Chase asked as he filled a Styrofoam cup with coffee out of an automated dispenser.

"We saved the world together," she said listlessly, stirring her tea with a plastic spoon.

"Oh that's... huh?" he looked up wide-eyed, "Saved the _world_?"

"Yeah. Shop window dummies trying to destroy everything," she replied lethargically, "He blew up my job that first day."

"Shop window dummies? Blew up your job?" Chase choked and coughed.

Rose sighed and took a sip of her tea as they walked away from the food line, "I don't know where I'd be without him."

"Psych ward," Chase whispered to his coffee cup as he took a sip, his voice was low enough for Rose to miss the comment.

"How long you figure they'll be?" Rose looked up at the clock above the door, "We should be getting back. The Doctor'll be wondering where I got to."

"Cameron will come find us when they're done," he assured her, directing the blonde to an empty table, "In the meantime, tell me more about your Doctor."

"I told you: we saved the world together," she said as she sat down at the table and set her cup of tea down, "There's not much else to tell. He saved my boyfriends life and promised me the universe. I've seen the end of time and saw life reborn and I met Satan yesterday. That's really all there is."

"But what about his past. His medical history," Chase insisted, "Family medical problems. History of circulatory system disorders, things like that. Maybe his actual name."

"I don't know," she shrugged, suddenly sulky and depressed, "We don't talk about that sort of stuff. We never really just chat. It's always sort of what's going on here and now."

"So, you don't know anything?" he raised an eyebrow, "Nothing at all? Not even his _name_?"

"That's me," she stood up from the table, abandoning her tea, "If that's all you need to know, Dr. Chase, I'll be off. The Doctor needs me."

"But--" Chase jumped up, dumping his coffee across his pants. He let out a shout and stumbled back over his chair.

"I'm sorry," Rose called over her shoulder as she hurried down the corridor toward the Doctor's room.

--

A/N: enjoy! R&R as always --lexx


	8. A Horse is a Horse

Chapter Six- A Horse is a HorseChapter Six- A Horse is a Horse

"Damnit, House!" Cuddy yelled, "What is the meaning of this?"

"I think the dictionary definition of 'this' is 'being the person, thing, or idea that is present or near in place, time, or thought that'--"

"Shut up, House," she commanded, "Where's Cameron and Foreman and Chase? Are they a part of all this?"

"Well," House searched for his words then decided to simply ask a question in return, "Which question would you like me to answer first?"

"House," she sighed and rubbed her forehead with highly manicured fingers, "Please explain to me why there's a--"

"Before you ask about the big blue box in conference room two--" House cut her off mid-sentence, then stopped when he noticed that that was not what she was inquiring about.

"The _what_ in conference room two?" she raised her eyebrow and folded her arms across her ample chest.

"That's not what you were talking about, is it?" he asked, digging into his pocket for more vicoden.

"I _was_ going to ask why there's a horse in the lobby," Cuddy informed him.

"Oh… _that_," House sighed gratefully and reclined against his desk, "You should ask Wilson. He'll know more about it that I do."

"Wilson did it?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Well, I didn't say _that_, but if that's the theory you want to believe, be my guest," he grinned and popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed hard.

"How did the horse get there, House?" her jaw clenched firmly, giving her jaw-line a harsh, squared shape.

"I honestly believe Wilson would know more about it than me," House assured her and began tapping a steady rhythm on his desktop, "You should ask him about it."

"I'll go do that," Cuddy turned to exit the office, then faced House when she reached the door, "I'll be back to discuss the blue box in conference room two later."

"Whatever you say," House stepped away from the desk and followed the ice-queen out of the room and turned down the hall to walk toward the Doctor's room.


	9. Where is He?

Chapter Seven Chapter Seven

"Doctor, I'm back!" Rose ran into the room, "Doctor?"

The room was empty.

"Doctor?!" she cried out, spinning on her heel to look around the room to see if the Doctor was merely out of bed, "Doctor!"

"Rose," Chase hurried in behind her, "Rose calm down."

"Where'd you take him?" she demanded, tears streaming down her face, "Where did you take him?!"

Chase lurched forward and caught her arms, holding her fast, "Rose, I need you to calm down. House and Cameron are running a CAT scan on him. He'll be back in a few minutes. I just need you to calm down and take a deep breath."

Rose inhaled deeply and held the air in her lungs for a moment.

"You might want to exhale that," Chase told her gently, noticing that she was holding her breath.

Rose sighed and collapsed onto the bed. It was still warm. She took a glance about the room and noticed one thing that seemed impossible and out of place. _The Doctor's suit… it's still in here…_ she stood up and approached the garments folded on the chair across from the bed, reaching out a hand to stroke the lapel of the pin-striped coat. Something beeped behind her. She heard the rustling of starched lab coat and figured that it was something on Dr. Chase's person that was responsible for the beep.

"Rose, I need to go talk to the other doctors for a moment," Chase said, breaking the serenity that had fallen upon the room, "Cameron should be here with the Doctor soon. I'll be back in just a minute."

He left the room quickly without a backward glance.


	10. Jack Meet John

Chapter Eight- Jack meet John

**Chapter Eight- Jack meet John**

"Er, Doctor Cameron?" the Doctor asked innocently from the examination table, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"This is just common procedure," she explained, "We do it for all our new patients."

"Oh," he nodded his head slowly, "So, er, am I an official patient now? Like, checked in to the hospital?"

"We're working on that right now," Cameron replied as she reached around for a syringe with which to draw blood, "Put out your arm."

"I, er, can't give blood," the Doctor said hesitantly, "Er, low… blood sugar."

"One vial won't do anything to your blood sugar," Cameron assured him, "I just need to do a few tests to check for infection."

"But, don't you need patient consent for that sort of thing?"

"Well, technically… yes," she admitted, "But… it's just…"

"Doctor Cameron, can I trust you?" the Doctor asked, looking deep into her eyes, "Can I trust you with my life?"

"I _am_ a doctor, sir," she reminded him, "You can trust me."

"You can't tell _anyone_ what I'm about to tell you," he insisted firmly, "Not House or any of your mates. This conversation _never_ happened."

"Okay," she eyed him curiously, seriously fearing for his mental stability.

"You can't run _any_ tests on me," the Doctor informed her, standing up from the table, "No tests, no scans, _nothing_. Technically you can't do any of that anyway without patient consent _and_ a medical history, of which I don't have."

"In that case, what do you propose we do?" Cameron asked, crossing her arms over her chest, "Just let you suffer in a bed?"

"Let me run my own tests," he insisted, "All I need is full run of the lab."

"No!" she replied indignantly, "If you mess something up, I'll get it in the neck."

"Then can I just stay here for the night?" he asked, "I need somewhere sanitary and relaxing for the next eight or nine hours so I can finish healing. Then I'll be on my merry way."

"You've got a four inch long gash in the back of your neck and some sort of circulatory disorder," she put a hand on his chest to keep him from walking out of the room, "You can't go anywhere."

"But, I'm not even a proper patient!" he protested, "You can't just…"

"Sir, please sit down," Cameron was growing worried, "Dr. House should be here in a minute and you can discuss your predicament with him."

"But--"

"So, _Doctor_," House strode into the room casually, an accoustic-electric guitar in hand, "Is that really your name? Is it a nickname, or did your parents just _really_ hate you?"

"Er," the Doctor wasn't sure how to reply.

"What's your _real_ name?" House asked, sitting down on the stool and propping his leg up on the step stool beside the table, "Other than 'Doctor'. Doctor who?"

"Er, John--" he began to reply, only to be cut off by the other doctor.

"Lemme guess: Smith?" House began tuning the guitar.

"N-no… er… H-Harkness," the Doctor watched the drug-addict psychopath as he began strumming on the instrument, "I'm Doctor John Harkness."

"Harkness?" Cameron spluttered, "_Harkness_?!"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, glancing over at the surprised young woman, "Something wrong with that?"

"Are you related to Jack Harkness?" she asked quizzically, stepping toward the Doctor.

"Er, why?" he furrowed his brows, "What's he done this time?"

"Nothing," House silenced Cameron, "Her ex-boyfriend. She's been looking for a rebound."

"I have not!" Cameron whipped around to face House.

"See, first sign of guilt: denial," House grinned and began strumming again, "She's got a thing for sick people."

"Is he here?" the Doctor's eyes were wide, his nostrils slightly flared, "Is Jack in this hospital?"

"Oh! You've found us out," House slapped a hand to his forehead dramatically, "We've got your brother in our clutches and we're not letting him out."

"He's not my brother," the Doctor stated flatly as he made his way to the door, "Can you take me to him?"

"You can't go out there!" Cameron grabbed the sleeve of the Doctor's hospital gown.

House put a hand on her shoulder, "We can take him for a field trip to see his brother."

--

"Where's he at, then?" the Doctor questioned as he followed House and Cameron down the corridor, "Intensive Care? Emergency Room? _Nurses' Station_?"

"I hope not," House commented as they passed the nurses' station. He pointed to a three-legged stool beside the desk, "That's my spot."

"Right," the Doctor glanced around and sighted Jack in the room directly across from the station, "Jack!"

"Doctor?" Jack looked up from his crossword puzzle and grinned, "Doctor!"

The Doctor paused outside the door, wondering what in the world he was about to do. Jack was an impossible thing now. He wasn't the man the Doctor had grown to know… and occasionally love. He touched the door handle unsurely and opened the door then stepped in slowly.

Jack jumped up from the bed and threw his arms around the Doctor, "Doctor, I've been searching everywhere for you! I've missed you so much!"

"Yeah," the Doctor whispered, still unsure about Jack's new existence as an immortal man, "You too, Jack."

"So, what're _you_ doing in a hospital gown?" Jack cocked an eyebrow after releasing the Doctor from the close embrace, "Since when do you get sick?"

"I'm not sick," the Doctor shrugged, "Just got a nasty cut and Rose was worried. Now I'm stuck here."

"You have the TARDIS, don't you?" Jack inquired, sitting back on his bed, "Why don't you just swan off without a backward glance? You seem to be really good at doing that."

"Hey, I had to!" the Doctor said defensively, "You had to save the world!"

"You could've told me," Jack furrowed his brows, trying not to glare too harshly, "You could've told me what happened to me."

"I couldn't!" he replied loudly, alerting the doctors outside the room, "I had to regenerate! I had to save Rose! _I_ had to save the world!"

"But… ten seconds, Doctor," Jack sighed and looked at his bare toes, "That's all it would've taken. You could've waited ten seconds."

"No, I really couldn't," the Doctor muttered, then spun around when he heard the door open behind him.

"Okay, fieldtrip's over, kids," House leaned against the doorframe, "John's little blonde is getting worried over him and we've got tests to run on both of you Harknesses."

"John _Harkness_?" Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, "I didn't know you decided to take my name."

"It's a recent development," the Doctor explained with a slight shrug and a wink.

House's jaw almost dropped. "Oh! You're not _brothers_… you're _married_!"


	11. Yet another Hiatus

Continuing hiatus posted by on this particular story...

My deepest apologies for the continuing hiatus on this story . My writing laptop is officially a paper weight and has devoured twenty chapters of unposted fanfiction along with a lot of other work. I'll be working my butt off to recover some of the lost work from the recesses of my vast mind, but it may take a very long time... nix that... it **will** take a very long time.

Sorry about constantly doing this; however, I should have some new stories on the way whilst I try to sort out all the rest of my continuing stories. If there's anyone interested in adopting on of the unfinished fanfics, please PM me and we can work out the details.

Fics up for adoption:

Viva Rock Vegas

Tulips

Heart of Gold

I'm also looking for a co-writer for 'Doctor for the Doctor' and the Dr. Who Bloopers. Again, PM me if you're interested.

Thanks for your continuing patience.

Sincerely,

Lexx

PS: Remember: ALWAYS take a banana to a party.


	12. 2010

**Updates for the new year...**

The following stories are up for adoption:

A Doctor for the Doctor (this is one that I would like to be kept in the loop about by whoever adopts it)

Heart of Gold (this is one that I could just as easily write off as a dead-in-the-water story and just leave it)

A Matter of Life and Death (actually, I just need a cowriter or two to keep this one going)

Doctor Who Bloopers (again, I just need a cowriter or two or three to keep this one going)

* * *

Stories that are no longer available for adoption:

Viva Rock Vegas (adopted by "ottawawolf" -- /u/2047635/ottawawolf)

* * *

Impending updates:

Jack Who- I have revived my dead writing laptop and have recovered the final chapters of this story, which means it will soon be COMPLETE!!

Ethereal Nonsense- I'm finally getting around to finishing this one and will also be working on panels for the actual comic.

Bananas for Her- pretty much the same as Jack Who, except it's still got quite a bit of work to be done before it is COMPLETE.

* * *

Hang in there, folks. I haven't forgotten about ya!!


End file.
